The LMC - Breakdown Thread
Discussion
Just back from the Le Mans Classic, a trip not without incident 
Our gang set out on Friday morning, by 6.15am the Porsche 912/6 met us at Cobham Services running sickly on 5 cylinders, solved it on the other side in the car park of a Calais Citroen dealer.
A few hours later my TVR Chimaera had a relay go down just outside Rouen which took me an hour to diagnose and another hour to bypass. One of those high stress moments where a clear head and my multimeter saved the trip.
Then the texts start coming in from the Porsche 912 team again, "brakes locking on - help".
Arrived at Le Mans (very late) to find the Porsche had made it (just) but the Sunbeam Alpine had driven into a deep pothole entering the camp site resulting in its fan smashing into the rad & losing all its coolant (soft engine mounts).
Repaired it on Saturday morning with a combination of the epoxy putty & K-Seal I carry in my bag of emergency breakdown spares.
Departed Le Mans Sunday afternoon, ran the Porsche to a local supermarket where I found there was zero free play between the brake pedal & master cylinder, trimmed the little ribber pedal stop to allow the piston to reveal the return port in the master cylinder and away we went to Honfleur.
Four breakdowns on three of our five cars (& one motorcycle), the Sunbeam did hit 105 degrees as it arrived in the London stop/start traffic but I'm pleased to confirm we all made it safely home.
In the words of the great Brian Hanrahan....
"I counted them all out - and I counted them all back"
What an epic trip
Post your breakdown stories here......
Our gang set out on Friday morning, by 6.15am the Porsche 912/6 met us at Cobham Services running sickly on 5 cylinders, solved it on the other side in the car park of a Calais Citroen dealer.
A few hours later my TVR Chimaera had a relay go down just outside Rouen which took me an hour to diagnose and another hour to bypass. One of those high stress moments where a clear head and my multimeter saved the trip.
Then the texts start coming in from the Porsche 912 team again, "brakes locking on - help".
Arrived at Le Mans (very late) to find the Porsche had made it (just) but the Sunbeam Alpine had driven into a deep pothole entering the camp site resulting in its fan smashing into the rad & losing all its coolant (soft engine mounts).
Repaired it on Saturday morning with a combination of the epoxy putty & K-Seal I carry in my bag of emergency breakdown spares.
Departed Le Mans Sunday afternoon, ran the Porsche to a local supermarket where I found there was zero free play between the brake pedal & master cylinder, trimmed the little ribber pedal stop to allow the piston to reveal the return port in the master cylinder and away we went to Honfleur.
Four breakdowns on three of our five cars (& one motorcycle), the Sunbeam did hit 105 degrees as it arrived in the London stop/start traffic but I'm pleased to confirm we all made it safely home.
In the words of the great Brian Hanrahan....
"I counted them all out - and I counted them all back"
What an epic trip
Post your breakdown stories here......
duggan said:
Sunday – felt like a Mental “Breakdown” after biking back to the tunnel in torrential rain all the way…
You should try it on a Harley Fatboy riding back from Barcelona to Calais with rain almost all the way and a open face helmet and no waterproofs! I wont forget that trip in a hurry! 
As for LM Classic, I think my Gearbox is making a whine in top gear? Also developed a misfire on the way home which might be down to a faulty plug or lead? Have not had time to lift the hood yet and check things out. Just hoping its a simple fix!
No breakdowns as such in our group of 1 Chimaera (mine), 1 V8S, 2 Tuscans, 1 Elan & 1 MX5. Only slight hiccup was my immobiliser refusing to disarm for 15 minutes at 1st fuel stop just outside Caen on Thursday afternoon. Apart from that all ran sweetly but need to fit shorter drive belt for better supercharger traction.
Edited by Richard 858 on Tuesday 8th July 11:12
The Spitfire was on exemplary behavior, apart from the handbrake not holding on the ferry back. A chock cured that though. We had a dicky relay on the Esprit, but a quick tap fixed it. Most pleased. We passed a Cobra on the back on an AA van on the A34, but that was about all I saw in terms of breakdowns.
Had to nurse the Spit onto the ferry as we were running on fumes and the bloody petrol station at Cherbourg was un-manned and wouldn't take my card, but once we'd crossed and topped up with some of our cheap english unleaded, all was plain sailing.
Can we go back again next week?
Had to nurse the Spit onto the ferry as we were running on fumes and the bloody petrol station at Cherbourg was un-manned and wouldn't take my card, but once we'd crossed and topped up with some of our cheap english unleaded, all was plain sailing.
Can we go back again next week?
Hi everyone,
I was in the ChipOnGas crew and yes, it was mayhem on the breakdown front, but Dave (aka “Spanner”), saved them all…!!!! Surprise, surprise, of the 2 cars that did not break down, was my Chimaera 500 and an 8 year old Aston Vantage….
Who said TVRs always break down…? I only did only 450 miles in the last 11 months (we are now 3 in and only 2 seats in the Chimaera …) and did almost 1,000 during the weekend an all went OK … did 160 km/h (100 mph) for over an hour, no problem / pulled 230 km/h (140 mph) many, many times (private motorway only) during the trip, no problem…
TVR only break down if they are not serviced regularly, not serviced by the right people or sometimes, I guess it’s just a case of bad luck….
My Chimaera, I am sure is as reliable as any other 18 years old sports car!!! If you deal with the issues as they arrive or even better, those cars are pretty bullet proof (off course after a while the chassis will need replacing / repairing, there are electric gremlins that nee sorting out, etc…. but remember, those cars a performance cars and they are getting on a bit…
Bet there’s a few other sports cars owner out there who are surprise how strongly a Blackpool rocket can pull…. Mr 911, no chance (you see my car has 1400 cc more than your and about 400 kgs less…) mr Black Vantage “xxxxFUN”, whoops and you little Boxers, what were you thinking off….
Hope you all had a great weekend, whatever car you were driving, as we say, “l’important c’est de participer”.
Frenchie….
I was in the ChipOnGas crew and yes, it was mayhem on the breakdown front, but Dave (aka “Spanner”), saved them all…!!!! Surprise, surprise, of the 2 cars that did not break down, was my Chimaera 500 and an 8 year old Aston Vantage….
Who said TVRs always break down…? I only did only 450 miles in the last 11 months (we are now 3 in and only 2 seats in the Chimaera …) and did almost 1,000 during the weekend an all went OK … did 160 km/h (100 mph) for over an hour, no problem / pulled 230 km/h (140 mph) many, many times (private motorway only) during the trip, no problem…
TVR only break down if they are not serviced regularly, not serviced by the right people or sometimes, I guess it’s just a case of bad luck….
My Chimaera, I am sure is as reliable as any other 18 years old sports car!!! If you deal with the issues as they arrive or even better, those cars are pretty bullet proof (off course after a while the chassis will need replacing / repairing, there are electric gremlins that nee sorting out, etc…. but remember, those cars a performance cars and they are getting on a bit…
Bet there’s a few other sports cars owner out there who are surprise how strongly a Blackpool rocket can pull…. Mr 911, no chance (you see my car has 1400 cc more than your and about 400 kgs less…) mr Black Vantage “xxxxFUN”, whoops and you little Boxers, what were you thinking off….
Hope you all had a great weekend, whatever car you were driving, as we say, “l’important c’est de participer”.
Frenchie….
My brother's erstwhile reliable MG ZS 180 (the V6 model) was hit by three separate problems within a few miles of arriving at the Chateau Chanteloup campsite. First, a wheel bearing started to grumble. Next, the clutch master cylinder went (a part that is unique to that model) and then we discovered a major oil leak, diagnosed after much looking as a failed seal in the head gasket between the oil feed from the block to the front head. None of these issues were fixable over the weekend in France.
So what to do? The car went nowhere over the weekend but we set off at 6am on Monday for Calais, starting the car in gear with the starter motor and trying to avoid stopping at (almost) all costs, making clutchless changes along the way and cruising at 55/60mph. And he made it, not only to Calais (thank God we weren't on the Eurotunnel!) but then from Dover to Huddersfield - a heroic effort. But that oil leak! Over the whole journey it consumed 30 litres (6 x 5 litre cans of the cheapest oil we could find!), a fair proportion of which covered the front end of my Honda S2000 as I shadowed him to Dover. And the starter motor seems to have taken it all without complaint, so at least something on it has proved reliable!
So what to do? The car went nowhere over the weekend but we set off at 6am on Monday for Calais, starting the car in gear with the starter motor and trying to avoid stopping at (almost) all costs, making clutchless changes along the way and cruising at 55/60mph. And he made it, not only to Calais (thank God we weren't on the Eurotunnel!) but then from Dover to Huddersfield - a heroic effort. But that oil leak! Over the whole journey it consumed 30 litres (6 x 5 litre cans of the cheapest oil we could find!), a fair proportion of which covered the front end of my Honda S2000 as I shadowed him to Dover. And the starter motor seems to have taken it all without complaint, so at least something on it has proved reliable!
There were a lot of MG's, TVRs & Triumphs littering the hard shoulder on the way there, gave up counting when it went into double figures. Impressed by the number of old Loti we saw moving yet none broken down. Seemed to be virtually no broken down cars on the way back though so looks like the 1st long trip found the weak points that got addressed.
spanky3 said:
We threw caution to the wind and took a Lotus Excel, an Alfa 75 and a 20 year old Hilux - pretty much odds-on for disaster.
Other than a slight issue with the 75 bonnet caused by over-zealous lightening we didn't have any problems.
Bright blue Excel? I think we passed you down between Abbeyville and Rouen, white Exige and grey morgan Aero 8, and remember commenting that it looked in excellent condition and a cool car for the journey.Other than a slight issue with the 75 bonnet caused by over-zealous lightening we didn't have any problems.
My dad and I arrived in a GT40 replica he had built, we made it into the Rose parking lot and had a thoroughly good day, but broke down on the way out at about 6pm. Were stuck waiting for recovery (was a fault with the immobiliser) and then had to find a taxi back to the hotel. Ended up staying at the hotel on the Sunday since we were in the Kyriad and could see the Mulsanne corner from the bar, which was far better given how poor the weather was. And the drive home was in a hired Fiesta, not sure when the car will be shipped back to us.
So if you saw a red GT40 parked at E9 alongside Chemin Aux Boeufs it was us!
So if you saw a red GT40 parked at E9 alongside Chemin Aux Boeufs it was us!
markcoopers said:
spanky3 said:
We threw caution to the wind and took a Lotus Excel, an Alfa 75 and a 20 year old Hilux - pretty much odds-on for disaster.
Other than a slight issue with the 75 bonnet caused by over-zealous lightening we didn't have any problems.
Bright blue Excel? I think we passed you down between Abbeyville and Rouen, white Exige and grey morgan Aero 8, and remember commenting that it looked in excellent condition and a cool car for the journey.Other than a slight issue with the 75 bonnet caused by over-zealous lightening we didn't have any problems.
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